Santa Monica College's student-run news outlet The Corsair earned 23 awards this month from two leading collegiate journalism organizations, including a national Pacemaker Award from the Associated Collegiate Press — one of only six California student news websites to receive the honor.
The ACP awards were announced March 17, while 16 state awards from the Journalism Association of Community Colleges were announced at the National College Media Conference, held March 5–7 in San Francisco. Other California Pacemaker recipients include UCLA, Loyola Marymount University, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Sacramento State, and Las Positas College.
The Corsair also ranked ninth in the ACP's Best of Show online newspaper category among two-year colleges, and tied for 10th nationally in the ACP's Clips and Clicks contest alongside Pepperdine University's Currents and Syracuse University's NCC News.
In the JACC competition, Corsair news editor Kayjel J. Mairena and former photo editor Jake Crandall won first place for their visual coverage of Labor Day anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. A U.S. Navy veteran and son of Nicaraguan immigrants, Mairena commutes to SMC from the Wilmington neighborhood near Long Beach and hopes to transfer to USC, NYU, or Columbia University.
"Journalism is powerful — you have a voice and the ability to give that voice to people who don't have one," Mairena said.
The Corsair is advised by journalism instructor Sharyn Obsatz, photojournalism instructor Gerard Burkhart, and social media journalism instructor Samantha Nuñez. News content is published at thecorsaironline.com.
Edited by SMDP Staff